1979 JC Penney Racer

Mike's Bikes

1979 JC Penney Racer [Shimano/Suntour/Italian & French 6-speed x 2]

56cm Tange single-butted 1020 Hi-Tensile 1/.7 gauge frame. Current weight w/pedals: 24.2 pounds

Hand-cut & painted lugs on mail-order catalog bike? One thing to love about the 70s. The manufacturer remains a mystery, but similar lugs are seen on Centurions of the time. There is a "JAPAN" sticker on the seat tube above the bottom bracket and serial# 9278565 (likely meaning 1978 manufacture) stamped adjacent on the downtube.

I bought this $179 JC Penney catalog bike with my first paycheck in the summer of 1979. It was originally equipped with Shimano Titleist/Selecta components (including centerpull brakes -- note the seatstay bridge) and weighed 28 pounds, but a season of mail-order (mail?) deliveries later it was a 21-pound Pan-Euro mutt in sew-ups. I've recently re-porked it to 24.2 with some era-correct things. The Brooks saddle is half its current heft if my common core math skills are up to date.

Original components changed-out for: Universal 68 sidepull brakes; Brooks Pro Team saddle, Suntour Cyclone rear derailleur; Shimano 600EX downtube friction shifters, front derailleur, & crank; SR Campy-copy pedals; SR Cinelli-copy stem, bars, & seatpost; Alfredo Binda toe straps; Christophe toe clips; Sedis Sport chain; Shimano 600 headset. Back when teenager-me was trying for the 20-pound road bike this rocked Fiamme tubular rims. I shaved another 100 grams by replacing the "touring" fork with a 45mm-rake chrome Tange Champion race fork. And ... um ... I hack-sawed two inches off the seat post. Teenagers, right?

Long chainstays and relaxed angles make for a languid ride, and it's easy to rub the front derailleur cage under power. But once underway this bike motors just fine, and it has proved indestructible over four decades now. (2021 Update: The old man can still flex the bottom bracket. Yo).

1989 Colnago Super [Centaur/Record 1-speed]

60 cm (Colnago ctt measurement. Actual is 57.1cm ctc) Columbus Cromor double butted .9/.6-.7/.9 gauge lugged frame. Current weight w/pedals: 21 pounds

What on earth makes just a frame worth twice the cost of the finest complete bike on offer from the JC Penney catalog? (This is foreshadowing. A spoiler alert. If you've read this far, you have the disease too, and you know exactly why you're still at the top fraction of this page). The little ad in the back of VeloNews made a fine case for the outlay, but this kind of money was only theoretical to a grocery bagger. Time and eBay fixed that.

I fully buy into the hype on steel tubes joined together by guys from the Old Country whose first names end in "o." There’s an over-the-road resonance and return on energy that's missing in other bikes. This Colnago is a thoroughbred that has become hardwired to my cycling soul. After tens of thousands of happy miles together she recently had a midlife crises: her derailleur hanger snapped just as I was rolling into my driveway after a long ride. Blessed though the timing was, this caused an ungodly amount of trauma to the rear triangle, so I removed the derailleurs, twisted and bent metal, then cut a snappy new gold chain to-size for a 70-inch gear. She now has slick little stretchy silicone LEDs front and rear. We cruise the streets silently late at night remembering the journey, plotting more.

1971 Colnago Super Eddy Merckx [Nuovo Record 5-speed x2, Cinelli bars & stem, Regina Extra freewheel/chain, Sachetti spokes, NISI rims, Clement Super Condor tubulars, Brooks B17 saddle, Christophe clips, Alfredo Binda straps. Sometimes seen in the company of an Alementari Molteni Arcore water bottle presented to a Team Molteni superfan by Merckx Super Domestique Joseph Bruyere at a Nice inn after the 1974 Tour de France. Standby for Contact High]

55.88 cm Columbus SL double butted .9/.6/.9 gauge lugged frame. Current weight w/pedals: 22.6 pounds

A bike from the Molteni team inventory of 1971-74. Not a size Eddy would have ridden, but somebody dressed in Molteni Orange shed sweat upon it on the Le Col de la Croix de Fer, et al. I love the way everything screws together easily and functions as it should on this bike, whose frame and componentry represent the pinnacle of what the world's racers rode for decades before we had asymentrical hyperglide drivetrains hung on nanofiber monocoques. As much as I love brifters, the main improvement we've seen in the last half-century of cycling is a better-shaped inner cage plate on the front derailleur. After weighing this out and considering the period state-of-the-art componentry (but for the saddle I don't see any real grams coming out of an SL frame with drilled Nuovo Record & sew-ups), it's doubtful any pro was riding a bike much under 22 pounds back in the day. Yet this machine is swift ... simple ... direct ... timeless.

Despite the thinner tubing, the ride is at once alive and sublime as with the larger Cromor-tubed Super above -- proving Ernesto knew his stuff when it came to matching tubing wall thicknesses with frame size.

1997 LeMond Zurich [Chorus/Record 9-speed x 2]

53 cm (long-ish effective toptube makes this fit fine with seat/stem adjustments) Reynolds 853 double butted .7/.45/.7 gauge tig-welded frame. Current weight w/pedals: 19.2 pounds

Poke around on eBay and you'll see a nice Waterloo-built 853 Zurich or Maillot Jaune come up every now and then. The previous owner built this in full Campy/Cinelli and took great care of it ... and as this one came to market back when Lance was considered god and Greg his bitter accuser, the whole thing cost less than a carbon crankset. Of all my bikes, this is the raciest. It just disappears under me and goes.

2009 Pegoretti Responsorium Ciavete [Chorus 12-speed x 2]

57 cm Columbus XCr double butted .6-.65/.4-.45/.6-.65 gauge tig-welded frame (3.98 pounds in-the-paint), graffitied and signed-off by the master himself on the Day of St. Maximus of Verona, 2009. Current weight w/pedals: 19.6 pounds

This frame lived on a gallery wall for a decade. On the night the owner decided to release it to the fates of wrenches and roadways, fate found me on eBay (Developing Theme). The build took a few months as parts arrived, then a few bonus weeks as I figured out that assembling the latest Campagnolo group means acquiring the latest silly-priced Campagnolo "specialist tools," including front derailleur gapping guides to clear ever-so-slightly asymmetrical chainring teeth to the sub-millimeter and $200 chain tools to solve a problem Shimano solves better for free. Add Torx heads living randomly where hex heads once lived quite peaceably and "user manuals" that amount to the middle finger in four different languages ... and I'm really just about strip everything off, throw 105 on and spend the rest of my days bitching about the money-grubbing weasel Italians ... giving special attention to the user manuals, which basically say, "Make sure you install this part correctly. It's really recommended you pay a specialist to do it. Why are you still reading this user manual, schmuck? We're not going to tell you how to install it in any language."

But now that everything is together and tuned to the millimeter, I suppose there are those resolute clicks and right-now brakes. The industrial artistry. Mainly, it's the brakes. Peerless.

The Ride
Oversize paper-thin steel tubes and massive chainstays rolling on stiff Zondas and unyielding Gatorskins. Have I just assembled the nutcracker suite? Nope, and hooray. Dario's finest rides like Ernesto's above minus a few pounds ... slightly more alert ... a little more road feedback. Italian steel souls laugh at the eons and dance on the face of marketing blather. And in motion, it ... hums. Dario's ghost is in the machine. We ride.

2004 Airborne Valkyrie [Shimano 105]

56 cm 3AL/2.5V titanium tig-welded frame. Current weight w/pedals: 18.5 pounds

The XB-70 Valkyrie was a massive delta-winged Mach 3 bomber powered by six General Electric YJ93 turbojet engines that proved too over-the-top for even the go-go 60s. It was perfected just as Russia developed anti-aircraft missiles capable of hitting it. Two were built, one was crashed, and the survivor now lives at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. This ground-bound Airborne Valkyrie was also doomed, introduced in the midst of squadron-upon-squadron of carbon fiber raptor attacks during the rapid Fe-Al-Ti-CF materials evolution of the new millennium.

You can pick up one of these on eBay for a fraction of the price of a modern boutique Ti ride. The massive shaped chainstays (GAMS ... Graceful Arc Maximum Stiffness ... a literary/engineering masterpiece if you ask me) ensure great power transfer, but the rear bites back more than steel or carbon triangles on big bumps. Any attempt to trail brake on wet curves will bite back even harder. And if the roads aren't perfect, the thing loosens headsets every few thousand miles. I recently rebuilt this in the latest Shimano 105, and now it's my very favorite rain bike of all time. Smooth, fast, tough. Feels forever.

Gary Turner GTR SRAM
2010 Gary Turner GTR [Sram Rival 10-speed x 2 compact]]

"Medium" (55 cm) carbon monocoque with full carbon dropouts. Current weight w/pedals: 15.6 pounds

This is the only bike I've ever purchased from a bike store. It was on end-of-the-year clearance at Performance and really only needed a good wheelset (Blackset Race clinchers) to hit the sub 7 kg club ... and become the lightest, best climbing, best handling, mostly-best-riding bike I've ever ridden. Carbon really is the current state of the art for the reasons you might suspect: Everything is fat and stiff where it needs to be and spare and feathery where it doesn't. You can't replicate this in metal. The rear triangle is so tight that the engineers called up the wisp of a crescent void at the back of the seat tube for tire clearance -- sort of like those gimmicky 70s Schwinns, but here this is no gimmick.

Over small bumps and chipseal this bike reads the road like a steel bike filtered through 1/8" rubber bushings ... or titanium filtered through 1/16". It glides/floats over the bumps and eliminates the tingly sensation you feel with metal bikes on rougher asphalt. Over bigger bumps the frame's damping abilities are exceeded, so a major frost heave can be a pretty mean experience compared to the quick, light spring-over snap you feel on a steel race bike.

Back in the steel era, Ernesto Colnago once said that everyone wants to climb on a 16-pound bike, but no one wants to descend on a 16-pound bike. I think the ability to manipulate the stiffness and shape of CF tubes puts that worry to rest. The bike never feels nervous.

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The Gotta Ride It Factor: CF vs Ti vs. Steel vs. Steel in a Road Bike

Thoughts on Carbon Fiber, 3/2.5 titanium, modern OS steel, and classic 80s steel on a skinny-tired road bike.

The carbon fiber GTR is a fast, light, comfortable and feels like it will play nice on any road. Zero bb flex and straight up the hill you go. The bike never hints at being fragile, and the glide-over-small-imperfections carbon factor makes for more confident forward progress on iffy roads than even a fat-tired steel mountain bike. It's probably a perfect modern road bike. (Update: Twelve years now with this steed in rotation. It's been tough and faultless).

The Ti Valkyrie is a few beats smoother than steel of similar geometry over chipseal, however, the geometry and tube sizes that allow light, stiff, and sprightly to play nice together in a metal bike make for nasty work over sharp bumps compared to carbon, and especially steel. A fast, dreamy, bomb-proof ride on any half-way decent road. Probably the bike you ride around in The Apocalypse when it's in town.

The 853 LeMond is among the finest steel bikes I've ever ridden, but I rode it for over a decade with the wrong wheelset before I realized this. After swapping out low-spoke-count semi-aero rims for a set of Blackset Race clinchers ... WOW. A smooth, light, unobtrusive bike that just becomes part of you. I can't make insightful ride comparisons about a bike that feels like it isn't there, so instead I'll just give props to the craftsmen in Waterloo and the guy who designed it, America's greatest probably-non-doping bike racer. This is a masterpiece.

The Cromor Colnago Super Sprint and SL Colnago Super Eddy Merckx tie for the most supple and playful of these bikes.These skinny-tubed racers from the classic days give up nothing in speed to the others, but are every bit as happy dawdling through haphazard urban infrastructure as flying down the highway. Cross gravel parking lots ... run some ruts ... fjord the sidewalk for a few blocks. They have your back.

The XCr Responsorium is a lighter, slightly more alert and responsive dead ringer for the Cromor Colnago, which is really no surprise given the nearly identical frame sizes and geometry. It proves in all its Ciavete glory that rock stars live forever and always get the chicks.

Since all of these materials can be made into first-class race frames and subjective ride arguments rage all over the internets, here are some cold, hard subjective ratings based on the race frames I've ridden on 700c 23s with identical tire pressures and using similar seats and bar tape ... noting that all frames, regardless of material, ride somewhat more harshly in smaller sizes and especially in compact designs. (Executive Summary: Well-designed carbon remains tough to beat. But set up a classic steel frame with a fisftul-of-seatpost Coppi-style and ride through eternity with no doubts) .

Material    Road Buzz/Sharp Impacts (Lower = Better)

1" Steel        3/2
OS Steel 3/3
Aluminum 5/5
Titanium    2/4
Carbon    1/3
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The Gotta Squeeze it Factor: Campagnolo vs. Shimano vs. SRAM in a Road Bike

Campy: Click
Shimano: Swish
SRAM: CLACK-CLAAAACK

Best Brakes: Campy
Best Front Derailleur: Shimano
Best Shifting Scheme for Numb Fingers that Doesn't Trigger Inadvertent Braking: SRAM

No flawed groups among these manufacturers in 2022, IMO. Each excellent and some better per above. With a sub-2-pound CF frame you can hit the UCI weight limit with mere 105. Just sayin'.

You want: Chorus. 105. Rival. The effing third tier. Give up prestige, durability drama, 200 grams. Put your savings into GME @ six bucks and call me in the morning (but before the crash).

Internet. Argue. Go.

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The Zen of the Hipster ...

2005 Bianchi Pista [Sugino 48 crank x DuraAce 16 cog]

55 cm (Bianchi ctt measurement. High track bb makes this fit more like a 56 ctc road bike) Reynolds 520 double butted .8/.5/.8 gauge tig-welded frame. Current weight w/pedals: 17.4 pounds

Fixed is great exercise, just like "they" say. It changes the way you think about your ride, and it forces your legs to do things that are good for fitness and recovery between road bike workouts. I don't ride this in traffic.

This is a beautiful and responsive ride on perfect pavement, but I've discovered all kinds of small wavy ruts on less than perfect roads that my other bikes never reveal. This frame feels stiffer than any other I've ridden ... but is IMO really too rough for use as a go-anywhere commuter.

OC OD on this bike: The Pista Passion Page

The Around-Towners ...

2004 Schwinn Ranger Hardtail [Shimano Tourney 7x3/SRAM twist grip shifters]

17.5" straight-gauge 1010 steel tig-welded frame. Current weight w/pedals:: 34.9 pounds

I rolled this out of Target (after riding it in the store on the encouragement of one employee, only to be severely chastised by another employee, the latter of which is ... still working at Target), adjusted the front derailleur, put steel pedals & toe clips on it, and it rocks. After 18 years and several thousand miles of puttering and late-night neighborhood lapping it’s the best $115 I’ve ever spent in bicycling. Everything works, and save for one flat tire and chain lube, maintenance has been -0-.

Since this is a go everywhere bike, I’ve Pee-Wee Herman-ed it with headlight, taillight, bell, etc. My wife has hidden the clothespins & playing cards.

These very inexpensive "Chinese Schwinns" that are now sold in the large retailer channel are often rabidly bashed on the web by the bike snob crowd, but don’t overlook them if you just want a solid bike. You will not find a better or more durable recreational ride at any price. The whole she-bang costs less than practically any one high-end bicycle component, and if you really find it dramatically inferior to an entry-level & many-x-the-price bike shop bike after a few days of riding, you can take it back to the big box for a full refund. And to steal a line from an old cycling scribe, this bike is so heavy that you may dismount and throw it at muggers and dogs with lethal results.

2013 Gravity Basecamp 1.0 [Shimano Altus 8x3/EZ Fire Triggershifters] (Added clip-on plastic fenders -- my lovely laundress approves)

18" 6061 straight-gauge aluminum tig-welded frame. Current weight w/pedals: 30.4 pounds

Shipped quickly from Bikesdirect.com and packed well. The assembly was marred by component bolts that were *way* overtightened at the factory. The back disc caliper bolts will need to be drilled out if that piece ever needs replacement. The fronts finally yielded to WD-40 and a long hex key with a breaker bar. I might not have noticed if both calipers weren't assembled well off the centerline of the brake rotors when the wheels are centered in the forks. Once the conquerable robo-tightened components were repositioned and adjusted, all was well. One odd note about the Shimano EZ Fire shifters: the rear shifter's bottom trigger wouldn't return from a shift without manual intervention. After checking cable tension I partially disassembled the shifter and found that it shifted as designed only if the bottom dust cover was slightly loose. No such issue with the front shifter trigger, and nothing appears to be binding in the defective trigger ... so this may be the first low-end Shimano component I've encountered that doesn't think it's Dura-Ace in shabby clothes. Handling on the Basecamp is nimbler and a little busier compared to the steel Schwinn Ranger above. Frame tube diameter is very similar to the Ranger, so I attribute the livelier ride to four pounds less weight and slightly different geometry. A serious off-trail rider would probably find this bike competent for rut dodging, but on the street this is getting closer to an upright road bike for my purposes. The stock setup on this bike is otherwise great: geared for anything with a bright orange rust-proof frame, we will be going many dark, wet places together.

1974 Schwinn Speedster [Schwinn & Schwinn-approved parts; Sturmey-Archer three-speed]

21" 1010 steel electro-forged frame. Current weight w/pedals: 43.2 pounds.

This bike has the longest wheelbase of any bike I have. It has the widest, springiest saddle. It weighs a bump-crushing 43 pounds. And it's the most uncomfortable bike I've ever ridden, mainly because my butt's conditioned to narrow saddles.

But if hold my upper body perfectly still during the ride, everything's fine.

It does give you that regal English Racer upright perch ... and makes the classic Sturmey-Archer clack-clack-clack in second & third gear. It has fenders and heritage.

I picked this up for $25 plus shipping on eBay; spent a day degreasing and repacking all the bearings (the headset had no grease at all); trued the wheels, and then sprayed the really-scratched-up frame down with WD-40. This works swell as a rain bike, and the steel rims give better braking than I expected in the wet. It's a nice Sunday afternoon neighborhood ride too.

As fun as this bike is as a retro-rain ride, I'd say that anybody who derides modern "fake" Schwinns (above) as poor imitations of "real" Schwinns hasn't ridden or worked on a "real" Schwinn in a while ;).

1970 Schwinn Continental [Schwinn & Schwinn-approved parts; Schwinn-branded Huret derailleurs/10-speed]

22" 1010 steel electro-forged frame. Current weight w/pedals: 32 pounds

Beat-up, banged-up, bent, and scratched on eBay, but with a story. It's the childhood bike of NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young. Steve must have carried offensive linemen around town on the handlebars and chainstays during junior high. Parts of this bike are bent where I've never seen a bike bent. I replaced all the consumables and tortured the potato-chipped steel Schwinn rims back to almost true. It's the full 70s Schwinn time travel experience: Sky Blue, Randonneur bars, safety levers, and TwinStik stem-mount shifters ... plus a story. Ain't eBay neat?

The Bike in the Basement ...

On the Trainer: 1989 Schwinn Traveler [Schwinn-approved parts; Shimano/DiaCompe mix/10-speed]

56cm True Temper 1020 Hi-Tensile steel lugged frame. Current weight w/pedals: 27.5 pounds.

My wife and I have taken turns pedaling this thing like mad for hours on end, but after several decades we haven't gotten it to move an inch. The ride is pure steel, though: it feels like you're riding on carpet.